I make a lot of mistakes; here are a couple of which many of us can be guilty–talking instead of saying thank you, and failing to reciprocate in conversation.

Sometimes biting our tongue or better involving the other person would’ve been the wiser choice. So by way of two stories from the TECH cocktail Conference last week, I offer up my follies for your benefit.

I’m wrestling with whether or not this is a technology/productivity topic, but I believe lessons in behavior are even more relevant online–where your activities can be seen by thousands of people, and accessed years later. Now, onto the stories…Continue reading…

The only thing that bothers me more than unprofessional email is the junk that people write in them when they’re reaching out to me. So I’m going to address how to write a professional email to someone you have little or no relationship with.

Those who follow half these rules will get a prompt personal response from me–and they’ve always worked for me. So read on, give it a shot, and maybe you’ll land that new client/job/hottie you’ve had your eye on.

Most people don’t own their email’s domain (i.e., the part after the @ symbol). Many exclusively use an email address that was provided to them by their internet service provider or place of employment.

This is a wake up call: don’t wait any longer to own and control your email. Here are some scenarios that may fit you, and how to fix things.

A pet peeve of mine is receiving unprofessional email–but I realize there’s no easy way to learn the subtleties. I’m not talking about email content, but how you format and configure it. This stuff is visible to your recipients and easy to fix. If you’re not familiar with this, then that’s the point–I hope you’ll read on to improve how your email reflects upon you.

Next week I’ll tackle the much harder topic of the email content, but for now…

We have a problem when we equate busyness with productivity (or, worse yet, success). We have a problem when we let people know we’re fitting them in to our schedules. We’re all busy people, and some of us might be considered productive, but none of us have the right to make others feel less important. A productive person is one who gets a lot done but doesn’t feel busy (or make others feel that they are).

I was talking with one of my employees about how much I had to do and when I would be able to get him some feedback. A few minutes after our conversation I cringed–I may have leeway with when I get him the feedback, but he didn’t deserve my listing out my to do list. He has just as much to do, if not at work then in other places, and I should never let my “busy life” be more important.

I got a phone call last week and the client exclaimed, “I’m so lucky I got you on the phone…I know how busy you are.” Maybe he meant it as a compliment, but it sort of irked me. Here I am trying to feel on top of my life/schedule…and I’m making an important client feel like I don’t have time for him. No, that’s not quite what he said, but it bugged me. It’s not that I’m not busy, but I want it to be clear to people (especially friends and, well, prospects/clients) that I have time for them.

Is there any doubt that email is a serious timesuck? I've built a small web tool that helps you to get the heck away from email—so that you can do real work on the job, or vacation in peace. If you like what I write about here, I think you'll enjoy AwayFind.

about technotheory

I am Jared Goralnick, Founder and CEO of AwayFind, a web startup that helps people to stop checking their email.